GENEVA: The UN on Sunday welcomed an Israeli decision to “pause” fighting around a south Gaza route daily for aid deliveries, but urged more “concrete measures” to unblock the humanitarian response.
Israel’s military announced Sunday a “local, tactical pause of military activity” during daylight hours in an area of Rafah to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
“We welcome this announcement,” UN aid agency OCHA’s spokesman Jens Laerke said in an email to AFP, noting though that “this has yet to translate into more aid reaching people in need”.
“We hope this leads to further concrete measures by Israel to address longstanding issues preventing a meaningful humanitarian response in Gaza.”
UN agencies and aid groups have repeatedly sounded the alarm of dire shortages of food and other essentials in the Gaza Strip, exacerbated by overland access restrictions and the closure of the key Rafah crossing with Egypt since Israeli forces seized it in early May.
Israeli army announces ‘tactical pause’ in part of southern Gaza
Israel has long defended its efforts to let aid into Gaza including via its Kerem Shalom border near Rafah, blaming fighters for looting supplies and humanitarian workers for failing to distribute them to civilians.
‘Catastrophic hunger’
“The UN and our humanitarian partners are ready to engage with all parties to ensure life-saving assistance reaches those in need across Gaza, where catastrophic hunger is widespread,” Laerke said.
“Living conditions for affected and displaced families in Gaza are dire. They urgently need food, water, sanitation, shelter, and healthcare, with many living near piles of solid waste, heightening health risks.”
The UN was insisting, he said, that “humanitarian operations in Gaza must be fully facilitated, and all impediments must be lifted”.
“We need to be able to deliver aid safely throughout Gaza.”
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